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A review by rosebache
In Praise of Love by Alain Badiou, Peter Bush, Nicolas Truong
5.0
As far as a piece of short philosophical theory goes - this is close to perfect. I say this knowing that there are aspects of Badiou's philosophy on love that I deeply and entirely disagree with.
I'll first cover the physical text itself. This example of Badiou's writing is accessible, thoughtful and invites a level of personal reflection that I've found only in one other book [b:The Unbearable Lightness of Being|9717|The Unbearable Lightness of Being|Milan Kundera|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1265401884l/9717._SY75_.jpg|4489585]. The book reads more like a late-night conversation with a friend, knowing that love is under threat is, according to Badiou, one of the first steps to truly understanding love. I read this as a commuting book whilst recovering from heartbreak and loss of identity on my way to a temporary 9-5 summer job. I found the overall tone of the book truly beautiful and I would heartily recommend to anybody, particularly people who are often put off by not coming from a philosophical background.
It was the aspects of this book that I disagreed with that make me love it all the more, probably out of a place of sentimentality more than anything else. It made me search within myself and question what I thought about love, what I thought I knew and actually solidified my belief in love when I thought it might not exist. Dramatic? Always. For what it's worth, I think Badiou's opinions on technology being the ultimate threat to love are archaic, outdated and come across somewhat gatekeep-y. There are snippets of prose I have underlined, highlighted and circled with a massive '?!?!' more than once, next to passages that I totally agreed with. It was these passages that I initially hated when I disagreed with them that I find myself coming back to again and again, whether intentional or not, these passages on technology and love have opened up an entirely new world of thought for me and are responsible for my love for this book.
Philosophy has a massive identity problem; academic texts are so often both outdated AND inaccessible. This inacessibility means the deep flaws in content & ideology pass without a challenge because they can only be challenged by a person educated in a certain way. This format of writing is more accessible and opens itself for criticism which is vital to the survival of philosophy.
I'll first cover the physical text itself. This example of Badiou's writing is accessible, thoughtful and invites a level of personal reflection that I've found only in one other book [b:The Unbearable Lightness of Being|9717|The Unbearable Lightness of Being|Milan Kundera|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1265401884l/9717._SY75_.jpg|4489585]. The book reads more like a late-night conversation with a friend, knowing that love is under threat is, according to Badiou, one of the first steps to truly understanding love. I read this as a commuting book whilst recovering from heartbreak and loss of identity on my way to a temporary 9-5 summer job. I found the overall tone of the book truly beautiful and I would heartily recommend to anybody, particularly people who are often put off by not coming from a philosophical background.
It was the aspects of this book that I disagreed with that make me love it all the more, probably out of a place of sentimentality more than anything else. It made me search within myself and question what I thought about love, what I thought I knew and actually solidified my belief in love when I thought it might not exist. Dramatic? Always. For what it's worth, I think Badiou's opinions on technology being the ultimate threat to love are archaic, outdated and come across somewhat gatekeep-y. There are snippets of prose I have underlined, highlighted and circled with a massive '?!?!' more than once, next to passages that I totally agreed with. It was these passages that I initially hated when I disagreed with them that I find myself coming back to again and again, whether intentional or not, these passages on technology and love have opened up an entirely new world of thought for me and are responsible for my love for this book.
Philosophy has a massive identity problem; academic texts are so often both outdated AND inaccessible. This inacessibility means the deep flaws in content & ideology pass without a challenge because they can only be challenged by a person educated in a certain way. This format of writing is more accessible and opens itself for criticism which is vital to the survival of philosophy.